Internal combustion engine governor



Jan. 11, 1944.

G. R. ERICSON INTERNALCOMBUSTIOI; ENGINE GOVERNOR Filed May 1, 1942 FIG.1.

3B l 3:; 30 Z2 39 4 2: 24 23 32 INVENTOR GEORGE R. ERICSON @MWM ATTORN EY Patented Jan. 11, 1944 INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE GOVERNOR George R. Ericson, Kirkwood, Mo., assignor to Carter Carburetor Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., a

corporation of Delaware Application May .1, 1942, Serial No. 441,321

12 Claims.

This invention relates to governors for internal combustion engines and particularly to governors used for controlling or limiting the maximum speed at which an engine can be operated.

Various objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawing, referring to which:

Fig. l is a schematic representation of an engine having a carburetor and the improved governor applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional elevation showing the governor according to my invention, parts being broken away for better illustration of others.

The reference numeral I indicates an internal combustion engine having an intake manifold 2, exhaust 3, and downdraft carburetor 4. The

mixing conduit of the carburetor is generally indicated at 5 and the outlet thereof is controlled by a throttle valve 6. The carburetor 4 is provided with conventional instrumentalities (not shown) for producing a properly proportioned mixture of fuel and air. The throttle plate is mounted on transverse shaft 1, to which is attached a lever B by means of set screw 9 and is urged toward open position by the spring l which extends between lever 8 and an arm H on the governor body. A loose lever 13 is mount- 'ed on the throttle shaft inside lever B and provided with a pin M at; one end which contacts one side of the lever 8 so as to be capable of closing the throttle valve but not opening it. A link connects the other end of loose lever l3 to the throttle pedal and is constantly urged in the valve closing direction by a spring l2. The spring I0 is not as strong as spring l2, however, and, thus, the throttle will be held in closed position, except when the tension of the spring I2 is overcome by manual means.

The manual throttle valve is thus connected to the rod l5 so that the operator can close the throttle by releasing the rod 15 to permit spring l2 to act, but the operator cannot directly force the throttle valve to open position.

The lower end of the double lever 8 is perforated at I6 to receive one end of the spring 11, the other end of which is connected at l8 to the lever I 9. This lever is pivoted at to a support 2| mounted on the carburetor or governor body, and the lower end of the lever I9 is forked at 22 toreceive the pin 23 connected to piston 24. This piston is mounted in a cylinder 25 containing the spring 26, and the cylinder is connected to the suction posterior to the throttle by means of the opening 21.

The function of the piston 24 is to increase the tension of the spring 11 when the suction is high in the discharge outlet of the carburetor, so that the throttle will be more responsive to the governor action tending to close the valve, as described hereafter, when the motor is operating under light load than it will when a heavier load is applied. The spring I! is not normally capable of overcoming the spring [0, but is merely capable of adding a variable resistance 'to the throttle opening action of spring 10 in accordance with the load variation.

The throttle is provided with a bracket 28 to which is pivoted a pin 29 having a head 30. The pin extends downwardly through a recess in the yoke 3| on governor collar 31, so that the throttle may be moved to close position by the downward movement of the collar 3|.

The governor comprises propeller blades 32 rigid with a rotatable shaft 33 which is journalled in the spider 34 and rests on suitable thrust bearings 35. The governorweights 36 are connected to the slidable collar 31 by means of the links 38, and similar links 39 connect the governor weights with the vanes 32. A spring 40 normally draws the governor weights toward the center.

In operation, the governor is rotated at a speed corresponding to.the speed of the mixture flow through the carburetor outlet and the governor body. The velocity of the mixture at this point does not vary exactly with the speed of the engine under all conditions, but I have discovered that the suction existing posterior to the throttle may be used to correct this divergence. That is to say, the suction increases at the same rate that the air velocity drops as the throttle is closed while maintaining a fixed engine speed. Based on this principle, I am enabled to use the piston 24 and spring I! as a correction factor for the governing action, so that the engine may be governed or limited accurately.

The necessity for the correction factor originates in the fact that internal combustion engines are provided with combustion chambers in which a certain amount of air or burned gas remains at the end of the cycle and at the time factor, by means of the piston 24, is to be increased or decreased in accordance with the relative size of the combustion chamber ,.of the engine. This is readily accomplished by increasing the dimensions of the piston 24, cylinder 25, and varying the strength of the spring 26.

The exclusive use of all modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims is contemplated.

I claim:

1. In an internal combustion engine having an intake manifold, a carburetor for supplying fuel mixture to said manifold, a throttle valve for con- ,trolling the flow of mixture'to said manifold,

means comprising a fluid current motor operated by the velocity of mixture flow posterior to the throttle for biasing said throttle toward closed position, and suction controlled means for variably assisting the closing of said throttle.

2. In an internal combustion engine having an intake manifold, a carburetor for supplying fuel mixture to said manifold, a throttle valve for controlling the flow of mixture to said manifold, means operated by the velocity of mixture flow for biasing said throttle toward closed position, and suction controlled means for variably assisting the closing of said throttle in accordance with suction posterior to said throttle.

3. In an internaI combustion engine having an intake manifold, means for supplying combustible fluid to said manifold, a throttle for controlling the supply of fluid to said manifold, spring means for opening the throttle, means responsive to the speed of fluid posterior to the throttle for moving the throttle toward closed position when a predetermined speed is exceeded, and means ineluding a suction responsive device for assisting the closing of said throttle.

4. In an internal combustion engine having an intake manifold, a carburetor for supplying fuel mixture to said manifold, a throttle valve for con trolling the supply of fuel mixture from said carburetor to said manifold, resilient means for urging the throttle to open position, a fluid current motor positioned in the mixture stream posterior to the throttle, a fly-ball governor driven by said fluid current motor for moving the throttle toward closed position when a predetermined speed is exceeded and suction controlled means for variably assisting said ball governor in accordance with suction posterior to said throttle.

5. In an internal combustion engine having an intake manifold, means for supplying combustible fluid to said manifold, a throttle valve for controlling the supply of fluid to said manifold, spring means for urging the throttle toward open position, means responsive to the velocity of the fluid posterior to said throttle valve for causing closing movement of the throttle valve when a predetermined velocity is exceeded and suction controlled means for variably biasing said spring means in accordance with suction posterior to said throttle.

6. In a governin device for internal combustion engines, a throttle valve, spring means for urging the throttle valve toward open position, a propeller driven speed responsive device posttioned in the engine intake conduit posterior to said throttle valve for counterbalancing said spring means to move said throttle toward closed position when the propeller is driven by the flow of gaseous fluid in excess of a predetermined rate,

and a suction responsive device for variablv assisting said speed responsive device.

7. In a governing device for internal combustion engines, a throttle valve, resilient means for urging the throttle valve toward open position, and means posterior to the throttle valve com prising a speed responsive device construchd and arranged for operation by the flow of fluid posterior to the throttle, and a suction controlled device, said speed responsive device and said suction control device cooperating to cause closing movement of the throttle valve when a predetermined velocity is exceeded.

8. In an internal combustion engine having an intake manifold, a carburetor for supplying fuel mixture to said manifold, a throttle valve for controlling the supply of fuel mixture to the manifold, spring means for urging the throttle toward open position, a manually operated obstruction for limiting opening movement of the throttle, and means comprising a fiy-ball governor operated in accordance with mixture velocity and a suction controlled. device for urging said throttle valve toward closed position when a predetermined mixture velocity posterior to said throttle valve is exceeded.

9. In an internal combustion engine, a throttle valve, spring means for urging the throttle valve toward open position, means comprising a fluid current motor responsive to the velocity of mixture posterior to said throttle valve for causing a closing movement of the throttle valve when the velocity of the mixture exceeds a predetermined value and suction responsive means for varying the effectiveness of said spring means.

10. A governing device for internal combustion engines having in combination, a throttle valve, resilient means for urging the throttle valve toward open position, means comprising a fluid cur rent motor responsive to the velocity or" fluid posterior to said throttle valve for causing a clos-- ing movement of the valve upon 1 crease in the velocity of said fluid beyond a redetermined rate and suction responsive means for variably biasing said resilient means in accordance with suction posterior to said throttle valve.

11. In a governor, a member forming-a mixture passage, a throttle in said passage, a spring constantly urging said throttle open, a fluid current motor device responsive to passage of fuel at an excessive rate through said passage for urging said throttle closed, and means responsive to suetion posterior to said throttle for yieldlngly counteracting the efiect oi said throttle opening spring.

12. In a governor, a member forming a mixture passage, a balanced throttle in said passage, means including a lever for actuating said throttle, a pair of opposing springs connected to said lever, one of said springs serving to open said throttle and being anchored and the other spring tending to close said throttle, means responsive to suction for increasing the tension of said ing spring upon an increase in suction, an element having a one-way connectionto said valve, and a device responsive to the rate of mixt flow through said passage for moving said element in a direction to close said throttle upon a predetermined increase in the rate of mixture flow.

GEORGE R. ERICSQN, 

